An electronic funds transfer or EFT refers to the computer-based systems used to perform financial transactions electronically. Merchants are increasingly relying upon EFTs to conduct business efficiently and safely. For instance, the Automated Clearing House Network (ACH), the electronic network for financial transactions in the United States, reported that more than 2.8 billion transactions were conducted in the fourth quarter of 2005, worth more than $6.3 trillion. More than 11,000 financial institutions and 585 organizations participate in the ACH network, and the system handles electronic payments in the areas of Internet commerce, electronic invoice presentment and payment, e-checks, financial electronic data interchange, international payments, and electronic benefits services.
Given the continued popularity of personal checks, many merchants would benefit from a system that would convert a check payment into an EFT. Electronic check clearing has many benefits over the traditional paper check, such as reduced processing costs and immediate notice of funds availability. Currently, however, additional equipment and expense is required to convert to a paper check payment into an electronic transaction. The need for additional equipment and the associated expenses is due, in part, to ACH regulations, which require that no financial institution may simply issue an ACH transaction towards an account without prior authorization from the account holder. Consequently, over 97% of field trades still accept paper checks.
Most consumers and merchants today carry one or more mobile computing devices (e.g., a mobile phone, personal digital assistant, a multimedia device, a compact computer, digital music player, and/or other portable electronic equipment) with them at all times. These mobile computing devices (often referred to as simply mobile devices) are capable of increasingly complex functions, including wireless communication, image and sound processing, and/or storage of data and images. The user interface(s) of most mobile devices can be modified to allow simple functions using both hard keys (e.g., a button that performs a static function, typically identified by symbol) and soft keys (e.g., a button, located alongside a display device, which performs a function dependent on the text shown near it at that moment on the display). The local memory capability of these devices allows users to access the Internet via a browser application and transmit electronic records relevant to all aspects of consumer life.